Griswold event to help reunite soldiers, animals met overseas

A Sunday fundraiser will help a national charity that connects soldiers with the animals they bonded with in war zones.

By ALISON SHEA

The Bulletin

By ALISON SHEA

Posted Mar. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 9, 2013 at 9:02 AM

By ALISON SHEA

Posted Mar. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 9, 2013 at 9:02 AM

Griswold, Conn.

A Sunday fundraiser will help a national charity that connects soldiers with the animals they bonded with in war zones.

The Puppy Mission Rescue, based in Texas, is a charity that uses donated funds to pay for the required tests, quarantines and transport fees in bringing home the stray dogs and cats that bond with soldiers fighting overseas.

The group has found a local ally in a Colchester woman, Carol Richart, the organizer of a fundraiser set for Sunday afternoon at the Jewett City Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10004.

“There are dogs and cats running wild all over Afghanistan, and they bond with soldiers their whole day,” Richart said. The animals “give them a sense of home, of security, warmth and comfort in a war zone. So when the soldiers come home, of course they want to bring their pets with them. And if they’ve bonded with these dogs or cats already, they should be able to come home with them.”

The fundraiser Richart has planned for Sunday is part bake sale, part tag sale and part flea market. More than a dozen vendors have purchased table space at the VFW to sell their wares, and proceeds will go to the Puppy Rescue Mission. In addition, Richart said she’s had a few private donations.

Richart said a soldier from the Boston area will be bringing his dog in support, so visitors can meet the kind of animal they’ll be saving.

In all, Richart hopes the event will bring in close to the cost of bringing home a single dog. When it comes to bringing home one dog, soldiers pay a part of the cost, and the Puppy Rescue Mission pays for the rest, according to the organization’s website.

Costs to transport a single animal can range up to $2,000 for a cat and $4,000 for a dog. Even before the cost of a flight cost, getting the animals into the U.S. requires getting pets spayed or neutered and up-to-date on their shots, and time in quarantine both before and after transit to ensure they won’t bring diseases with them, the organization wrote on its site.